The Proposal
by Masqued
Summary: "It's an honest arrangement, dear Lisa." Robert drawled. "All you must do is accept." Lisa glowered. "It's dirty and underhanded- not to mention illegal! I swear to you, Bob- I will never agree to such a thing." Robert smiled. "Never say never, my dear."


The Proposal.

"It's an honest arrangement, dear Lisa." Robert drawled. "All you must do is accept." Lisa glowered. "It's dirty and underhanded- not to mention illegal! I swear to you, Bob- I will never agree to such a thing." Robert smiled. "Never say never, my dear."

Bob/Lisa

Slight Lisa/Cecil

Cecil/OC

**Warning: Ages are changed. Slightly.**

* * *

When looking through the prison bars, the sky appeared to be much bluer than it actually was. The grass is always greener on the other side, as they say, and so it was the case with the sky. Today was his last day. Finally, he would breathe the fresh air of freedom! And he didn't have to escape, either. No, this time he decided to try it differently- to actually wait it out and pass through the gates a new man.

However, before then, he would have to visit his councilor. Robert nearly laughed when he first met the man, as he was not nearly as intelligent as he. He stuttered like an idiot, fluttering and spitting and sweating, cautious and nervous.

He, like every baboon in the place, believed he was so ready to kill him. It did not matter how much he tried to convey his earnestness to kill Bart, and only Bart, and his lack of success on the matter, they believed him to be a cold blooded killer. And why not let them? It allowed him much more freedom than most inmates.

Dr. Abernorth, as his name tag read. How he had made it through grade school Robert could not fathom, and dealing with him was so boring that he simply let the man hear what he wanted to he could get out quickly.

And oh glorious! Today was his last day. He would never have to see Abernorth again, just some half-wit parole officer, and that was easily dealt with. The guard came to his cell (Robert was sure to bid adieu to Snake, along with a warning.) to guide him to the visiting room one last time.

Robert could honestly say he had never been more gleeful. (Save for the time he very nearly killed Bart, but that was such a long time ago...) It was a glorious morning. He hummed Gilbert and Sullivan and when he entreated upon the door, his therapist nearly jumped from his skin. Bob resisted a chuckle. He did so love to frighten people.

"Good day to you, Abernorth," Robert greeted. He sat down in the chair opposite of the plump man, who, after thirteen sessions in, was still afraid of him.

"G-good day, S-sideshow B-bob. I-I c-came to congratulate you on your suc-cces in making t-thorough the t-three years." Robert dipped his head, a small smile on his face. Yes, he did deserve congratulations. And, he had gone through the three years without thinking about Bart Simpson at all. Well, very nearly all. There was that time...

"As you k-know," Abernorth continued, "T-the United S-States government h-has agreed t-to give you one more c-chance at bec-coming a model citizen. They have a list of requirement you m-must meet in- in one year." Abernorth produced a thin stack of papers and pushed it towards Robert.

He took them in hand, with minor difficulty due to the handcuffs, and flipped through them. The first few pages was a composition of illegal actions he could not do, or else he would be thrown back into prison for life, and there was also a list he would have to complete within one year, as Abernorth had indicated.

"Buy a home," Robert read allowed. "I am not allowed to live with my parents, however a loan is acceptable. Get a job. I am not to be within a hundred yards of a grade school until my parole is officially completed. Get-"

Robert paused. "This is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous- get married? Honestly, man, you expect me to get married after my wife had so horrendously left me with our son?"

"You c-can, after a year, sue her for c-custody." Abernorth pointed out. Robert snorted.

"That is, if you can find her. She is bound to be in Italy by now." He frowned at the bold print. It was never going away, it seemed. If he did not become at least engaged by the end of the year, he would, once again, be thrown into jail. "Why is this even a requirement?" He asked. It confounded him, simply because it was so ludicrous.

"The s-state believes that a woman of good standing will be a g-good influence on you." Abernorth muttered.

"And I cannot refuse?"

"N-not if you want t-to stay out of j-jail," the therapist said. Robert wanted to strangle him, but calmed himself. He had no choice. He had to get married. He frowned. But who on earth would marry him, in their right mind? An excellent lover he may be, as well as rich, but he had an extensive criminal past that resolved around killing one boy. Women often desired families, and to consider him... hm... he would have to make a convincing argument, because he could not change his name nor his place of residence. And all women of Springfield knew him, some way or another.

"Very well," Robert said with finality. "I accept the terms."

"G-good. Then it is-is my pleasure to dec-clare you free to g-go, Mr. Terwillig-ger." Robert bowed his head once again and smiled. Today was a new day, and the prospect of marriage did not daunt him. Robert Terwilliger always got what he wanted.

Well, mostly.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me."

It was easy to say that Lisa was having a bad day. But "bad" did not cover it. No, she was having a god-awful, gut wrenching, atrocious, abominable, should-be-banned-from-the-face-of-the-planet kind of day.

It was well known that Lisa was a genius. It was a common fact. She was also ambitious, noble, good at heart, and had wanted to win the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of twelve. However, having lacked sufficient funds, she was unable to achieve such a feat, but not for lack of trying.

And she tried, desperately, to achieve that goal. She was twenty seven and she was nearly there. She had developed a bio-chemical (naturally safe for the environment) that when injected into the blood stream could fight off Aids. It destroyed the virus which killed off the white blood cells by amplifying the white blood cells' strength, and killed diluted it's own strength until the virus could no longer live in it's host. She had it tested (reluctantly on animals, as she couldn't get human test subjects approved.) and so far, it worked. However there was a slight problem in the formula. In some cases the virus itself would be strengthened and the subject would die much faster. All Lisa had to do was a bit of tweaking. That was it. A change in formula, substituting one thing for another- that was it.

"You wont give me any more money?" Lisa demanded. "Dr. Chakwas, the answer is there- if you would just look for one second-"

"The government has spent far too much money on this project already, Miss Simpson," Dr Chakwas stood firm. He was a hard set sort of man who was stubborn. Once he made a decision it was final, and one would be crazed to against him. He ran the facility and if they tried, oh, the trouble he would cause. To be truthful, Lisa respected the man. He was brilliant and knew exactly what he was talking about, on nearly every subject, however- in this moment, she could not hate him more.

Dr. Chakwas sighed. "I do believe in you, Miss Simpson. You're a brilliant woman. However, if you cannot provide sufficient funds yourself, it must be put on the shelf."

"My salary is not enough to pay for half of this," Lisa pointed out. "Sir, with all due respect, this could save millions of lives, isn't it worth the money?"

"Of course it is," he said blandly. "However the government has decided that it is to be postponed temporarily, and I agree with them."

"And what am I supposed to do in the meantime, sir?" Lisa demanded. "This is my life. I spend sixty hours a week here, if not more! I can't just drop-"

"An excellent point. You've been working too hard. I recommend you take a break, a paid vacation. For a few months, at least. You are stressing your body far too much." Lisa frowned, and decided it best not to point out that all he wanted was for her to get off his back. She was pushing it enough as it is, she wasn't known for her complacency, after all.

"And by 'recommend' you mean demand." Lisa said bitterly. Dr. Chakwas smiled up at her, his hands folded across his desk.

"I'm glad we understand each other." Lisa let a frustrated growl before leaving his office, papers in hand. She charged to her own office and grabbed her lab coat as well as office papers. She stuffed them with her suitcase, uncaring if they wrinkled. Damn him, the stubborn man. Putting her life's work on the shelves, making her leave on a vacation.

Okay, yes, maybe she did work too hard. But she was already years late on her Nobel Prize, and she wasn't even close to becoming President of the United States. Lisa had to support not only herself on her salary (which was generous) but her mother and father as well.

Lisa walked out of the building and to her car, tossed her things into the tunk, and drove to her apartment. It wasn't shabby, actually, it was quite nice for 1,500 a month. The utilities were included as well, and it was close to Springfield- only an hour or so's drive away. Which brought on the question of where she would go for vacation. Home, would be the best choice. That way she could go see Homer and Marge and just... return to a sense of normalcy. At first, when she went to college she couldn't wait to get out of the dead end town, away from the memories, but now, it seemed like she always wanted to go home.

Lisa sighed.

Springfield it is.

* * *

Marge planted a kiss on her daughter's cheek and grabbed a bag while Homer meandered his way to get her suitcases. It was so good to have Lisa home again, she had missed her baby girl so much- though she wasn't her baby girl anymore. Even Maggie wasn't her baby girl anymore, off in her second year of college. It made a mother so sad sometimes, and yet, so very proud. They were such good girls.

"Mom," Lisa greeted, kissing her cheek. "How are you?"

"Doing well," her mother replied honestly, as she always did. "Let's take these to your room, it's the same as ever."

"Aw, thanks Mom." It wasn't the first time she had visited since Lisa had moved out, but almost seemed customary. Lisa opened the door to find that it had indeed not changed. Bart's and Maggie's room were much of the same way.

Homer set the cases down with a great big groan before wrapping his arms around her for a hug. Lisa and Homer's relationship hadn't much changed since she was a child, she loved him, but only grudgingly respected him. She understood now that he had always done what he thought best, but it didn't remove the pain accompanied by his actions.

"It's good to see you, Lisa." He smiled, the wrinkles evident in his face. Lisa thanked the heavens she could afford to give them a retirement, goodness knows Homer couldn't do it himself. Even if he could, he would ruin their finances within the first week. No, it was good that she controlled their money. Lisa would, of course, provide money for them whenever they asked, but she did have the right to refuse- usually when Homer came up with some scheme that just couldn't end well.

"You too Dad."

"How long are you staying?" Marge asked.

"A few weeks, at most," Lisa replied. "My boss forced me to take a break, and I couldn't very well refuse him."

"Well you need a break," Marge said lightly. "You've been overexerting yourself again. Now I don't want to hear of you unpacking- you're to go straight to bed and sleep. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

Lisa smiled gratefully. "Thank you Mom." Homer shuffled out of the room at Marge's insistence, blew a kiss, and shut the door behind her. Lisa sat down on her bed before collapsing. She stared at the ceiling, tired. It was very... quiet, in the house. It was nice, but... foreign. Usually it was loud, filled with Bart's laughter and Maggie's loud music. Marge would be cooking in the kitchen and Homer would watch t.v. with Duff beer cans surrounding him.

But, Bart had moved out and Maggie was in college. Bart only came back during the holidays and Maggie was having too much fun with freedom; she'd calm down soon enough, but not yet. It seemed like Lisa was the only stable child of the three of them. Bart would see reason and Maggie would calm down, and everything would be alright.

Honestly, though, a few years had passed and Bart still wanted to be a stubborn idiot. Lisa sighed. Well, he could do whatever he wanted. If he wanted to be a pain in the ass, let him. Lisa closed her eyes and let out a sigh before slowly succumbing to sleep.

* * *

"So," Marge asked, passing the potatoes, "How goes your work?" She was feeling unusually chatty since Lisa had arrived earlier that evening. It was rare for the kids to come around and visit, and Home, though a good husband, ran out of things to say aside from what happened on t.v.

Homer slurped on his potatoes and repeated the question, though it came out a jumbled mess Lisa didn't bother to interpret. "Fine," she lied smoothly. "Legally I can't provide the finer details, but it is going well. The government believes in my formula, and so do I. It just needs some minor adjustments and hopefully it can be out on the market for public use."

"What does it do?" Homer asked. Lisa shook her head.

"One of the things I can't say. I'm legally bound to keep it a secret, Dad."

"Aw, come on, we're all family here! No one will say a word, I promise." He held his hand over his heart and Lisa smiled, but she still shook her head. It wasn't happening. "Aww. I wanted to know the secret!"

"How have you guys been?" Lisa asked, pointedly ignoring Homer. As Marge began chattering again, filling her in on the goings on around town and the rumors circulating, Lisa felt her attention slipping away. She was still angry about what Chakwas did, denying her the proper funds to continue the project. It was outrageous and she just couldn't believe the government had decided to shelve it like that. Maybe if they weren't wasting money on ridiculous agendas they could focus on good ideas.

Lisa bit into her potatoes, pretending they were Chakwas' brain as she chewed. It was mostly mush anyway, but Lisa needed to vent. Besides, it was what she wished Chakwas' brain was right now, so she could could convince him to override the government's decision. Lisa swallowed and dug into her peas. She wondered what Jane was doing right now, if she had been reassigned or if she was given a vacation as well.

Jane was basically her best friend, easily. They'd met at Yale; she had gone into chemical theory while Jane gone into Chemistry itself. She worked as hard on the project as Lisa had, it was easily as much as Jane's baby as it was hers, though her name was on the paperwork. In the end though it would be the both of them, together, publishing it and making millions. Lisa couldn't imagine a better person to win the Nobel Prize with.

"Bart called yesterday," Marge continued, unaware Lisa's attention had drifted, though it snapped back as soon as her brother's name was mentioned. "He told us that Sideshow Bob had been released from prison a week ago. Apparently he's moving back to Springfield."

Lisa swallowed her peas without so much as chewing them. She knew what that meant. He'd given up on Bart a few years ago, driven his attention to something Lisa could care less about, but it wasn't necessarily him whom she had been thinking of. Marge laid a hand on hers. Lisa resisted the urge to pull away, and looked at her mother.

"Cecil isn't with him, as far as I know, honey."

"No," Lisa said immediately, her voice monotone. "He wouldn't be. Cecil is still in England, as a professor for Oxford."

"I know it may be hard to see him, sweetie-"

"It was years ago, Mom." Lisa interrupted, standing up. She gathered her plate and took it into the kitchen, dumping her leftovers in the trash and the plate in the sink. It was years ago. Sometimes it felt like eons. But it still hurt, somewhat, though the pain was ever so slowly fading away. Lisa took a deep breath. Cecil stilled called on occasion. He wanted to be friends still. It had been a mutual agreement, to split off, but neither one had wanted it.

Lisa silently did the dishes while Marge and Homer watched t.v. together. She knew her parents were concerned, but they needn't be. She wouldn't be getting back with Cecil anytime soon. He'd left America so he could distance himself from her. How he would do that while still calling her, Lisa would never know, but she wasn't about to argue with his logic.

Did she miss him? Yes, she did. But she'd never been given the chance to get over him, either, no matter how many years it's been. When they had broken off Lisa had thrown herself into her work and hadn't emerged from it until recently. She'd worked herself past exhaustion on multiple occasions, which usually worked out fine, considering she'd sleep and forget the world. She hadn't gone through the necessary phases to get over someone and be exposed to different people.

Maybe it was time she got on that.


End file.
